Mallya labels Bottas as ‘star of the season’ so far

Force India team boss Vijay Mallya has labelled Williams’ Valtteri Bottas as the “star of the season” so far in 2014.

Bottas – racing in only his second year of Formula 1 – currently sits fifth in the drivers’ championship, with three podium finishes to his name so far this season with the resurgent Williams team.

Mallya says the Finn, who has been linked with a rumoured move to McLaren, has “shocked everyone” with his maturity under pressure this season.

“There can be no two opinions that Bottas has been the star of the season so far,” the Force India boss told AUTOSPORT.

“Here you have the great Massa, and here you have a guy who’s come out of GP3, and the first thing that comes to your mind is that he’s going to be half a second behind.

“He’s shocked everybody and is doing a fantastic job under pressure.

“Not only does he have the killer instinct but also the maturity not to get flustered.”

Mallya also paid note to Daniel Ricciardo, who has routinely outperformed his team-mate Sebastian Vettel since he stepped up to the senior Red Bull team at the start of year, winning twice in Canada and Hungary.

Dan Paddock is an FIA accredited motorsport and Formula 1 journalist and the Grand Prix Editor of Richland F1. Dan joined the site in July 2013 as a Staff Writer, fresh off the back of completing a master’s degree in journalism. Following a promotion, Dan has since gone on to represent Richland F1 at four grands prix. Aside from Richland F1, Dan also writes for Rumble Strip News, as well as maintaining his own modest blog.